Lukaku enters Atletico Madrid's wish list

Posted Friday, July 22, 2016 by Marca.com

With the 18 goals he scored in the Premier League last season proving his credentials, Romelu Lukaku has emerged as a key target for Atletico Madrid, who are actively pursuing a new striker.

The Belgian leads the second-tier of Atletico's wish list, and will become a priority should Los Rojiblancos not manage to obtain Diego Costa, Gonzalo Higuain or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer.

Atletico have offered up to €60 million to the current clubs of the aforementioned forwards, but the chances of convincing any of Chelsea, Napoli or Borussia Dortmund at that price are slim.

The Champions League finalists have not directly begun conversations with Everton but have opened informal talks with Lukaku's inner circle to gauge his interest in a potential move to La Liga.

Successive top-scoring campaigns by the 23-year-old with the Toffees, who is under contract at Goodison Park through until 2019, has sparked interest among top English clubs as well.

It has been rumoured that the ex-Chelsea forward could be heading back to London, a possibility that could trigger a chain reaction in the strikers' market, perhaps opening the doors for Costa to return to the Estadio Vicente Calderon.

New Blues' coach Antonio Conte seems reluctant to let the Spanish international leave, perhaps unless owner Roman Abramovich brings him a top striker such as Spanish protegee Alvaro Morata.

Both Atleti and Real Madrid had shown interest in signing Lukaku two years ago, but they were beaten by Everton's €35m bid.